Your views

Legalize marijuana for recreational use

State Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, is taking the right step for the Garden State by introducing a bill to legalize marijuana for all adults over 21.

Other states have either legalized marijuana or are in the process of legalizing it. Doing so in New Jersey would create a viable revenue stream for the state while preventing the arrest of upstanding citizens who use marijuana both medicinally and recreationally.

As a medical marijuana patient who constantly uses marijuana, I know firsthand that marijuana is a safe, beneficial substance that should be lawful for everyone.

If any legislator is unsure about legalizing marijuana, he or she is welcome to smoke a joint with me.

Eric Hafner

Toms River

State should reconsider ban on oyster research

Just a quick addition to a terrific article, " Opportunity floats away? Rebuilt oyster reefs could blunt storm surges, but New Jersey balks," which appeared Sunday in the Asbury Park Press.

Baykeeper did a federal records request for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's report on New Jersey's shellfish patrols, and there was no mention of our oyster gardening or oyster restoration research as a problem.

FDA's real critique of the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection was that 1) they weren't doing any patrols of closed areas and did not have sufficient staff or boats to do so, and 2) there was no policy to prevent shellfish harvesters from releasing human waste into the shellfish beds.

The DEP's ban on oyster research addressed neither issue and did nothing to bring the state into compliance with FDA regulations, yet the agency claimed that the FDA was forcing them to close our oyster program.

We - and the almost 4,000 people who signed our petition - have asked the state to reconsider its ban to no avail. Now the state will miss out on federal resiliency funds because of a nonsensical ban.

Debbie Mans

Executive Director

NY/NJ Baykeeper

Keyport

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Your views

State Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, is taking the right step for the Garden State by introducing a bill to legalize marijuana for all adults over 21.

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